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Offline ChibiMaddiChan

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I think the disappointment stems from all of the above honestly. I think there are some people that just legitimately dislike the latter Castlevania titles. (The overall tone and storytelling, along with gameplay may not have been some people's cup of tea for Lords, for example.)  As a Metroidvania fan, I could see bitterness coming into play, as their 'series' got interrupted and now may possibly never be finished.  They may feel IGA got a raw deal with how the series was taken from him or hell, they just want their 1999 game damn it.   As for nostalgia, there's always those fans that can't let he past (whether it be Classicvania or Metroidvania) go and hate anything outside their realm of what made them love the series.

For me, it all just comes down to enjoying the damn game: as long as I can find some form of enjoyment, whether it be for the right or wrong reasons, I'm game.

It's why I still play, own, and actually like Judgement: questionable ass artwork aside, the game is just hilarious and fun for me to play.  It's also why Lords is a very odd spot for me: I'm not a huge fan of gameplay and find the music utterly forgettable. But damn, I loved the story (until part 2) and Gabe has become my favorite incarnation of Dracula period, so that was seriously enough to keep me going.
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Offline Viskod

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They should have changed it up a bit more in the older games, like have your protagonist get to Dracula's castle, get to his throne room and then just, find it totally empty. Then you find out that Dracula isn't actually in his Castle this time, that he's off actually doing something, actually having some sort of scheme or a plan and that reaching his throne room was just the mid-point of the game.

Just, something other than the guy sitting around waiting to be killed.

Offline Kamirine

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That's actually one of the things that annoyed me with games like say, PoR.  It had a vampire protagonist, with his own agenda using Castlevania for his own designs.  Then BOOM! Dracula is the final boss (dull surprise twist face) after all!  I almost laughed when you got to him because he barley even spoke, just driving home how he generic fighting him in the end had gotten.  (Like the final boss fight though.)

I would like games where Dracula wasn't the final boss at all, say another vampire lord or creature, even Death more often.  Or as said, Dracula is off doing other stuff and you have to track him down or something. 

Offline Shinobi

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They should have changed it up a bit more in the older games, like have your protagonist get to Dracula's castle, get to his throne room and then just, find it totally empty. Then you find out that Dracula isn't actually in his Castle this time, that he's off actually doing something, actually having some sort of scheme or a plan and that reaching his throne room was just the mid-point of the game.

Just, something other than the guy sitting around waiting to be killed.

^Something like this:

Good Job Belmont!

But our dark lord is in another castle!

Offline Mangoaxe5

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Personally for me I just plain hate reboots. I think that they're unfair to the fans.

Also Lords of Shadow doesn't look or feel like Castlevania. It should have been it's own series since the Castlevania elements felt forced.

Offline RichterB

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Just my experience. The first time through it all, I was cool with Castlevania up until Curse of Darkness and Dawn of Sorrow. (And no, it's not because of the anime style. I like anime touches in art, which Castlevania had long before DoS. I just think that DoS started to overplay it, and then PoR started to really ham it up with that style--poking a little too much fun at itself--despite having some legitimately interesting character designs). Ultimately, why CoD and DoS were the "breaking points" for me (and I played them in reverse order of release), was their game design. CoD felt like it fundamentally didn't understand the flaws of Lament of Innocence, which I loved the first time through, and therefore, despite all its bells a whistles of a more interconnected world and a 3D camera, it ultimately felt like a chore to play. The intrigue of the story, the music, and the some of the art direction was what helped me through it. Meanwhile, DoS felt a bit like a reskinned Aria of Sorrow, when Aria of Sorrow had, to me, sort of taken the Metroidvania formula as far as it needed to go.

When Lords of Shadow was shown off as Lords of Shadow (not Castlevania), I felt like Castlevania fans were being slapped in the face by Konami. A high-budget, whip-wielding game that's not Castlevania? Then, whatever the truth of its convoluted origins are, it got made into a Castlevania reboot. I felt very intrigued, and was happy about a big break from the Metroidvania style and the Devil May Cry-esque style of IGA's 3D entries. But the more info that came out, the more concerned I got. I still went and got it, paid in full. But I felt like it was a glorified remix of LoI that tried too hard to follow/mash-up modern games like God of War, Shadow of the Colossus, and Uncharted. And in the process, visually, it became a little too Western, losing the charm of earlier entries. In the end, it was a fun game, but it never fully felt like Castlevania to me. It felt like it was trying to legitimize its Castlevania connections on shallow shoutouts. I haven't had the heart to continue on with the DLC or the sequels. The combo-based combat and lack of real platforming really betray what is at the core of Castlevania. It is all the more frustrating because the promoter of the project, Dave Cox, talked about how LoS was a 3D manifestation of entires like SCVIV, which it wasn't.

In the meantime, The Adventure Rebirth came out, and despite it's limited scope and budget, it captured a lot more of the action-platforming essence of Castlevania I was looking for deep down, and showed a lot of room for expanding the 2D entries. Its multiple paths through levels and strategic use of keys was a lot of fun, especially on Hard Mode.

Reexamining the series in the years since, I've determined that the last great Castlevania games were the panned and underrated 3D entries on the N64, which should have been the starting blueprint for all future Castlevania games in 3D, not Devil May Cry, God of War, or any flavor of the week. They had REAL platforming, a non-combo, player-based combat system of short, long, and sub-weapon attacks, and a sense of exploration blended into a forward-driving level-based format. At that point, Castlevania felt confidently on the right track to me, even with its flaws, and had found an art style that excellently blended anime style and realistic style. Still, if pressed, I might extend the acceptable period of Castlevania out to Aria of Sorrow and Lament of Innocence. But after that, the merits and fun become very few and far between. The series has been largely a bummer for me, except The Adventure Rebirth. And honestly, Judgment, it wasn't anything to write home about, and I don't consider it a main entry, but it wasn't terrible, and it felt like it had a good sense of a 3D Castlevania world. But those aren't mainstream enough to affect the direction of Castlevania in one way or another.

So, right now, I'm just trying to wait things out and hope for a miracle.

On the topic of reboots, the only one that worked recently, feeling both fresh and true to its source, was Bionic Commando's sole full 3D entry on PS3/XBOXOne. (I'm not talking about the 2.5D Rearmed or Rearmed 2). Even if it failed, it is head and shoulders above the LoS experiment, and was one of the boldest games of that generation. It may have had flaws, but it had everything to gain from a sequel with just a bit more refinement. It was one of the last games that really blew me away. It solved the fundamental question of how to do compelling Bionic Commando swing & action mechanics in 3D. (The last time I felt the fundamentals of Castlevania were captured in 3D was the N64 games, and since those were panned, it's going to be hard to get back to that point of understanding).

Offline GigaDan

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I'm bitter because they took one of my favorite game series and turned it into what I despise. I like all the flavors of Castlevania prior to LoS sans CVA1, CV:L, 64 1 and 2. I despise pompous self-serious AAA games with poorly written plots that take themselves 100% seriously and have padding and QTEs all over the place. I hate how LoS1 spewed CV names constantly while redesigning them in completely unoriginal and uninteresting ways. I also hate things that unabashedly steal from other games without improving what they take. Shadow of Colossus, GoW, and that arm Bayonetta thing in LoS...wtf?

...and coming from portable installments that were solid 2D action games with good RPG mechanics and great replayability and going to MoF with it's floaty physics and choppy framerate sucked. That just sucked.

I'm not nostalgic. Not in the least. I own as many CV games as I do because it was a great series. The new games are the exact type of crap that I avoid like the plague. It's why I was rather unhappy with the 7th generation of consoles. AAA really blows now. Maybe with the digital distribution boom we'll see an actually good CV next-gen instead of having to get our downloadable metroidvanias in furry edition.

Offline Flame

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I despise pompous self-serious AAA games with poorly written plots that take themselves 100% seriously
Both of the PS2 games took their plots pretty seriously outside of bonuses like the pumpkinhead kid. And Aria did too. Sure, there were some silly enemies and all that stuff you come to expect from metroidvanias, but the plot was played pretty straight. So did OoE if I['m not mistaken.

Also Poorly written? We're still talking about Castlevania here right? Just checking. because last I remember, plenty of CV games were poorly written.

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and have padding and QTEs all over the place.
The PS2 games sure didnt have QTE's, but padding? you mean locking you in a corridor to defeat enemies, then repeating it every other identical corridor isn't padding?

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I hate how LoS1 spewed CV names constantly while redesigning them in completely unoriginal and uninteresting ways.
That's entirely subjective. you may not LIKE the redesigns, but that's your opinion. I rather liked designs like Cornell or Carmilla. They definitely kept true to their types. still a werewolf and a vampire respectively. LoS2 Zobek is about as Death as it gets. I could say also, i was never a fan of Cornell's original design. And Carmilla? She's had almost as many designs as Simon has. one more won't hurt. Vampires? Tell me, when was the last time we even SAW vampires aside from Dracula and Olrox? (or Brauner, the Olrox stand in, both of whom represent the Nosferatu vampire) AKA when was the last time we had them as a regular enemy?

the N64.

the redesigns were hit or miss, but i'd say many of them were alright. Specially character redesigns like Simon or Trevor or Alucard.


 
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I also hate things that unabashedly steal from other games without improving what they take. Shadow of Colossus, GoW, and that arm Bayonetta thing in LoS...wtf?
God of War did not invent hack n slash. Did you play LoI even? i dont think you did. Did that steal from GoW too? the devs I believe have stated that SotC is one of their inspirations or favorite games or something. It's not stealing if it's so damn blatant that they actually made them as homages.

I could also say SotN unabashedly STOLE from metroid. Where's your complains there?

Also, Bayonetta? what? Where do you see Bayonetta in LoS? Mind you also, LoS came out only about a year after Bayo.

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...and coming from portable installments that were solid 2D action games with good RPG mechanics
HAHAHAHA

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and great replayability
pretty subjective. i haven't touched Dawn of Sorrow after beating it. the metroidvanias sans Symphony i just dont really go back to after beating them.

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and going to MoF with it's floaty physics and choppy framerate sucked. That just sucked.
No complaints here. It had serious issues. Ive heard the HD port fixes them. At least the framerate ones.


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I'm not nostalgic. Not in the least.
Sounding like it. It's one thing to dislike something new, It's another to hate it just because it's different. AAA does not automatically = bad. And I dont know if I'd call LoS a AAA series. Feels more AA to me.

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AAA really blows now.
Not if it's done right.

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Maybe with the digital distribution boom we'll see an actually good CV next-gen instead of having to get our downloadable metroidvanias in furry edition.
You got a furry metroidvania BECAUSE of the digital distribution boom. Also, Don't expect a "next gen" downloadable CV. if it's downloadable digital distribution it will either be shit like HD, or a classic style game like Rebirth. But not "Next Gen".
« Last Edit: March 06, 2014, 12:33:25 PM by Flame »
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Offline GigaDan

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Both of the PS2 games took their plots pretty seriously outside of bonuses like the pumpkinhead kid. And Aria did too. Sure, there were some silly enemies and all that stuff you come to expect from metroidvanias, but the plot was played pretty straight. So did OoE if I['m not mistaken.
The AAA aspect is important to that quote because it involves stopping the player frequently to show them a cutscene that only services the plot (which is garbage.) Only at the beginning and end did LoI stop to barrage the player with cutscenes. LoI and OoE are 2 of my least favorite outside those I listed for that reason. LoI had the chambers you mentioned and the mechanics didn't evolve significantly over the course of the game and OoE wrote an amnesiac without any personality for the main character with obvious plot twists. I still really enjoyed the action in it, even if I thought the glyph system wasn't necessarily better than PoR. Just different.

There is something less offensive about taking yourself serious plot-wise in some small text bubbles and taking yourself seriously in a multi-minute cutscene. I find the latter far more obnoxious. Also, I hate Dawn's story as it ruins just about every character from AoS...which is pretty impressive.

Also Poorly written? We're still talking about Castlevania here right? Just checking. because last I remember, plenty of CV games were poorly written.
Yea, they are. Now if they stick no text or just some text bubbles then it's fine. It's when cutscenes get involved that it kills me. I found CoD and LoI cheesy as heck though so they're more enjoyable than LoS in that sense. Some sort of Evil Dead vibe there.

The PS2 games sure didnt have QTE's, but padding? you mean locking you in a corridor to defeat enemies, then repeating it every other identical corridor isn't padding?
Yup, it sucks. I can't even play through LoI anymore. It's awful. Fantastic soundtrack though, Jesus!
That's entirely subjective. you may not LIKE the redesigns, but that's your opinion.
No crap it's my opinion. I've seen monster designs like that in a lot of places before so I found it unoriginal.

LoS2 Zobek is about as Death as it gets.
His design was pretty good. I found that boss battle disappointing though. I was thinking about the LoI boss battle as a comparison and that felt a bit more awesome. You were in some hell dimension and his moves were way more fantastical. As opposed to LoS which took place in a satanist church and had him possess statues and swing his scythe around. Design good. Game design bad.
AKA when was the last time we had them as a regular enemy?
I don't suppose you won't take the hopping vampire from OoE as an answer, will you?

God of War did not invent hack n slash. Did you play LoI even? i dont think you did.
No it didn't. Berserk did and Devil May Cry refined it to a point. They defined the genre and GoW and Ninja Gaiden both took it in interesting directions. Also, yes I did play LoI and if you bring it up again I'll kill you and the night!

Did that steal from GoW too?
It predates GoW by 2 years.

It's not stealing if it's so damn blatant that they actually made them as homages.
Except for the part where it's a classless and loveless version of that game crudely shoved into multiple boss-fights.

I could also say SotN unabashedly STOLE from metroid. Where's your complains there?
It improved on and changed the formula by having RPG mechanics and various other layers that Metroid never received because Nintendo didn't know what the hell to do with it. They still don't.

Also, Bayonetta? what? Where do you see Bayonetta in LoS? Mind you also, LoS came out only about a year after Bayo.
The scene in LoS2 where Dracul thrusts his arm up and forms a dark energy fist (looks exactly like bayonetta) and punches and rips out the heart of the gorgon boss. It was weird, made no sense for the character, and only happened once.

HAHAHAHA
You're not a very nice guy. Did I offend you because I disagree with your sensibilities in video game design?

i haven't touched Dawn of Sorrow after beating it. the metroidvanias sans Symphony i just dont really go back to after beating them.
DoS, PoR, OoE, HoD, CotM, AoS. Least replayable to most replayable. I don't like revisiting SotN because i don't think it's as good as CotM and AoS and I've played it through 2 or 3 times. I did want to play through it again on the DXC version.

Ive heard the HD port fixes them. At least the framerate ones.
I tried the demo on PS3 and the framerate still had major spikes and drops. Wasn't interesting in playing it again anyways.

Sounding like it. It's one thing to dislike something new, It's another to hate it just because it's different. AAA does not automatically = bad. And I dont know if I'd call LoS a AAA series. Feels more AA to me.
I dislike that they stopped making the things I liked (classicvania, metroidvania) and started making something that I detest. I don't detest it because it's not what I like. I didn't hate the N64 games. They're just weird. I think the Lords of Shadow games are terrible in the way that Dante's Inferno was. That DmC was. That Remember Me was. That every game that wishes it was Uncharted was (Tomb Raider.) I don't have any shits to give a game that is overly self-indulgent with cutscenes about it's terrible plot.

You got a furry metroidvania BECAUSE of the digital distribution boom.
Right, that's my point. I'm saying now that digital only games are becoming more of a thing for larger publishers and a middle-ground in budget and quality is starting to form a real company (not just one furry guy by himself) will come in give us a good metroidvania game. Unfortunately, Strider wasn't that great. It was just sorta okay.


I hope you enjoyed my thorough rebuttal as you apparently think my opinion is a point of debatable fact. I hope my reasoning for what I like has pleased you. Maybe you should chill and enjoy this Top 8 Castlevania Moments video. It's funny or something.

Offline Morning star

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There was a time when i let people convince me that my lack of enthusiasm for the new Castlevania titles was because of nostalgia and the bitterness i had was toward a totally alien feel. But enough time has passed and i have seen the same thing happen to enough other franchises to know better now.

The problem is the designers are far removed from what worked. The things that have always made Castlevania a success were fairly simple and as follows. Hardcore (haunted castle) atmosphere. A very high level of difficulty. Great music. And, killing EVIL!

Here are some of the things that started to go wrong, along with horrible plots and terrible mechanics. How about... Not turning the characters into anime abominations of what they were intended to be. Not killing your wife to make your whip stronger. (Wow on that one btw) Not summoning demon familiars to help you on your quest. (Didn't care for this at all) Not having Belmonts actually turn out to be vampires. (Blasphemy!) Not placing the number 6 in an altar between the sun and moon, like some pagan ritual. (Very creepy and it didn't feel right) Not needing to watch a movie to play the game. (I hate overdone, gay, cinematics!) Not having the emphasis shift from weapons and being a strong warrior, to magic and drinking potions to stay alive. And many, many, more..

In other words, this.

When you finish a game you should feel like a hero, not a bad guy.

And, if you find yourself rushing just to get to the next cinematics screen... The game is not hard enough!!!

Hire a small team of longtime, hardcore, fans. Do that and all these problems will crumble away, like the castle does at the end of the game.  I would say two classicvania fans and two metroidvania fans should do the trick. Don't let the game be released until the entire team clears it and deems it worthy of the loyal legions of fans that are waiting.

So get on it KONAMI!!!
« Last Edit: March 06, 2014, 04:22:15 PM by Morning star »

This magic whip could be an example of advanced alien technology.

Offline olrox2

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But Sotn is very easy and yet seen by many as the best Castlevania. No i think that what i lked when i layed my first Castlevania was i had the feeling i entred into a very magic world, in a giant castle.

The main issues with LoS is the lack of content imo. If you compare Lords of Shadow to all the previous Castlevanias until Sotn, i think you can say by far it has definitely the smallest Bestiary of all of them.

Not to mention items, spells and skills.

I was less shocked when i went from metroidvanias to LoI than when i went from CoD to LoS.

Its not just about changing, just felt frustrated, following a single possible path in all meanings of the terms.

And that feeling i was playing a depressive charcter, i mean not a tragic one but a depressive character. Lords of Shadow disappointed me as a Castlevania, buti feel it also disappointed me as a game, being an example of "play and forget game"
« Last Edit: March 06, 2014, 04:36:45 PM by olrox2 »

Offline Morning star

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But Sotn is very easy and yet seen by many as the best Castlevania. No i think that what i lked when i layed my first Castlevania was i had the feeling i entred into a very magic world, in a giant castle.

You hit on something there and i just wanted to highlight something about it.

SOTN, did do a few big things and still manage to be a huge success. The game was much easier. The game was a metroid style rpg. The plot was changed in a very drastic fashion. And it did manage to bring in a new fan base that expected to see metroidvania style games. It was a huge success, even among the classic Castlevania fans. Now here is the rub.. And the reason i started a thread asking if people would give this game up if things would have remained the same.

Fans of the classic Castlevania games were ready for a break. It felt good to play an easy Castlevania game for a change. I admit that.. But SOTN was designed to be a one hit wonder. Sorry to tell everybody the truth here. That's why the system started to fail after this game. How many super easy, hack n slash, simple as dirt, rpg style games did they think they could make before people would just lose interest? The answer? Not many. It went downhill and never looked back.

The classic Castlevania style held up for many reasons. Difficulty is a major part of the formula. Difficulty gives a game replay value. These reasons are not present in SOTN, especially difficulty. Nor are they present in any other modern Castlevania title that was not just a remake of a classic game.


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Offline Flame

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The AAA aspect is important to that quote because it involves stopping the player frequently to show them a cutscene that only services the plot (which is garbage.) Only at the beginning and end did LoI stop to barrage the player with cutscenes.
Fair enough. personally i don't mind cutscenes, and I enjoyed the more story heavy take. I'm a story guy. i DO dislike hand holding one,s such as when you enter the area and it pans the camera to the objective, although in some cases it can be excused as cinematic camera-ing.

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There is something less offensive about taking yourself serious plot-wise in some small text bubbles and taking yourself seriously in a multi-minute cutscene. I find the latter far more obnoxious. ... It's when cutscenes get involved that it kills me. I found CoD and LoI cheesy as heck though so they're more enjoyable than LoS in that sense. Some sort of Evil Dead vibe there.
I actually find that the fact that LoS takes itself so damn seriously, is part of the fun. It becomes melodramatic and slightly cheesy like a Shakespeare play.

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  Also, I hate Dawn's story as it ruins just about every character from AoS...which is pretty impressive.
A-fucking-men to that. Dawn has no fucking reason to exist, and could have been instead, that 1999 game. (or just a more original Aria sequel. The novel seemed to do it right, which ironically came AFTER dawn- aside from the fact that Soma is just a cameo when Death asks him one last time to be Dracula, the main antagonist is not anything to do with Dracula's power or whatever the fuck they were going for in Dawn. It was literally the power struggle left by the void caused by Dracula's demise.)


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Yup, it sucks. I can't even play through LoI anymore. It's awful. Fantastic soundtrack though, Jesus!
Can't argue that. One of the better CV soundtracks. I should really replay LoI one of these days. I don't recall if I ever beat Joachim mode...


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No crap it's my opinion. I've seen monster designs like that in a lot of places before so I found it unoriginal.
The comparison I see get brought up alot is Van Hellsing. I'm ok with that though, since I felt Van Helsing felt a lot like a Castlevania movie itself. perhaps more than LoS does. (The Game based on the movie even namedrops the Belmonts in some book on a shelf)

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His design was pretty good. I found that boss battle disappointing though. I was thinking about the LoI boss battle as a comparison and that felt a bit more awesome. You were in some hell dimension and his moves were way more fantastical. As opposed to LoS which took place in a satanist church and had him possess statues and swing his scythe around. Design good. Game design bad.
Well LoI Death was also the final boss. that's hardly an excuse though, considering Zobek is the next to last boss. His fight was easy. i was disappointed he didn't do more with his Scythe. I mean, that last segment where he creates a scythe barrier was cool, I would have liked to see more creative usage of his scythe.

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I don't suppose you won't take the hopping vampire from OoE as an answer, will you?
Stretching it a bit. They blur the line between zombie and vampire. And are mostly there to fill the mythological niche. I mean Vampires like Dracula himself. (though obviously not as powerful) just random people turned and serving him. CV64 got it right in that regard.

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No it didn't. Berserk did and Devil May Cry refined it to a point. They defined the genre and GoW and Ninja Gaiden both took it in interesting directions. Also, yes I did play LoI and if you bring it up again I'll kill you and the night!
heh.

Still, Im tired of the GoW comparison. all because GoW popularized it, doesn't make it any less true that LoS 1 plays similarly to LoI in regards to it's fighting mechanics being centered around dodging and perfect blocking, as well as light and heavy attacks.

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It predates GoW by 2 years.
that it does. which is why I mentioned it. Lots of people are quick to call LoS a GoW knockoff and act like it invented the genre, when games like LoI predate it, and seem to be bigger influences on LoS than GoW.

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Except for the part where it's a classless and loveless version of that game crudely shoved into multiple boss-fights.
There's only 3 big Collosus fights in the game. 1 per area. i thought they were alright, and fairly ramped up in difficulty. they were well presented too.

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It improved on and changed the formula by having RPG mechanics and various other layers that Metroid never received because Nintendo didn't know what the hell to do with it. They still don't.
keep in mind that obtaining power ups? was considered an RPG element back in it's day. it's the reason Mega Man X features things like heart tanks and Armor parts. To introduce an RPG mechanic that makes you feel stronger as you progress in the game.

Metroid doesnt need a level up system. SoTN took Super Metroid though, and added an RPG level up system, along with another very RPGesque idea of different equipment and items. that doesn't change the fact that it is heavily derivative of Super Metroid.

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The scene in LoS2 where Dracul thrusts his arm up and forms a dark energy fist (looks exactly like bayonetta) and punches and rips out the heart of the gorgon boss. It was weird, made no sense for the character, and only happened once.
Oh right that part. To be honest i never associated it with bayonetta. I can see how you would though. But since he's all about being the Dragon and all that, I just assumed it was something to do with that.

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You're not a very nice guy. Did I offend you because I disagree with your sensibilities in video game design?
I meant no offense, I just severely disagree on "good RPG mechanics". Most of them just reuse the same shit from SoTN and tack on gimmicky gimmicks and call it a day. I wouldnt call the DS games Solid really. (except maybe OoE) In comparison to MoF though? Eeeh, the argument could be made I suppose.


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DoS, PoR, OoE, HoD, CotM, AoS. Least replayable to most replayable.
we just differ on this I guess. I suppose it's more to do with liking the game. I disliked DoS despite the game being Aria 2.0 (Now with more grinding!) and the DS games in general. I might occasionally go back to fuck around, but I never bother to get 100% completion. I mostly revist the classicvanias.

 
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I don't like revisiting SotN because i don't think it's as good as CotM and AoS and I've played it through 2 or 3 times. I did want to play through it again on the DXC version.
I occasionally revisit SotN probably most out of the metroidvanias. I just cant get enough of the visuals and music and smooth as fuck everything.

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I tried the demo on PS3 and the framerate still had major spikes and drops. Wasn't interesting in playing it again anyways.
oh well. Im waiting for the PC version to test it. I played the 360 demo ages ago, dont remember it. i remember it being stiff though.

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I think the Lords of Shadow games are terrible in the way that Dante's Inferno was. That DmC was. That Remember Me was.
Can't speak for Dante's inferno- Though I hear DMC actually plays pretty well, controversy aside. And ive played Remember Me. It was a promising idea. But it was just marred by overly linear gameplay which would be fine- if it didnt try and mask it as an open world, and then make you shimmy up specific sections when you should be able to shimmy up any. The art and sound direction were fucking fantastic though. Which makes it all the sadder. The devs had to sell the IP to Capcom for them to publish it, and then they went out of business. Sad. Also, Dat nilin ass. Yknow how all of LoS2's budget went into Carmilla's boobs? well ditto Nilin's ass.
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I don't have any shits to give a game that is overly self-indulgent with cutscenes about it's terrible plot.
preferences I guess. I dont mind cutscenes, I dont even mind a bad plot on occasion. LoS2 just has a terrible ending, I feel the plot leading up to it was alright. But it's when you reach the last acolyte that the story gives up.

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I hope you enjoyed my thorough rebuttal as you apparently think my opinion is a point of debatable fact. I hope my reasoning for what I like has pleased you. Maybe you should chill and enjoy this Top 8 Castlevania Moments video. It's funny or something.
Dont think I hate you or something. I just felt the need to dig deeper
Laura and Gabriel arrive in the deepest cave of the castle and... they find IGA.

Offline theANdROId

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Hire a small team of longtime, hardcore, fans. Do that and all these problems will crumble away, like the castle does at the end of the game.  I would say two classicvania fans and two metroidvania fans should do the trick. Don't let the game be released until the entire team clears it and deems it worthy of the loyal legions of fans that are waiting.

While this sounds like a great idea, and I think I like it...could two hardcore classicvania fans successfully work together with two hardcore metroidvania fans?  No offense to anyone here of course.  I know we have many types of fans here and we (generally!) get along just fine.  But I would think their core beliefs/opinions on what Castlevania "should" be might be too different to cooperate on one title...maybe?  Each game's style is different enough that agreeing on the details would seem impossible.  But otherwise, I like the idea!

Offline Morning star

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While this sounds like a great idea, and I think I like it...could two hardcore classicvania fans successfully work together with two hardcore metroidvania fans?  No offense to anyone here of course.  I know we have many types of fans here and we (generally!) get along just fine.  But I would think their core beliefs/opinions on what Castlevania "should" be might be too different to cooperate on one title...maybe?  Each game's style is different enough that agreeing on the details would seem impossible.  But otherwise, I like the idea!

Yes sir. Thats exactly why i figured both sides of the fan base had to be in on it.

Just imagine a SOTN style game with the side scrolling difficulty of VS Castlevania. And with a belmont as the lead character. Meat in the walls that you can only get one time between save states. Open exploration? No. Survival exploration :)

This magic whip could be an example of advanced alien technology.

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